“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:30-31).
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Revelation 14:6-7).
In the above scriptures we see from God’s Holy Word that we must all, at a future point in time, appear before the judgment seat of Christ to answer for our deeds, whether they be good or bad. God sent Jesus to die for our sins on the cross and He took the punishment of those sins for us by suffering death and hell. Then, on the third day God raised Him from the dead. Christians around the world will be celebrating the Resurrection of Jesus (Easter) in a few days; as this is the Holiest time of the year for us and a special time for praise because of what the Lord has done for us. When any person repents of his sin and accepts Jesus as his Savior and makes Him Lord of their lives, we are “born again” and are promised salvation and a home in heaven eternally. This is the great love of God manifested toward us. However, every promise of God has conditions attached to them.
The Need for a Deeper Heart Cleansing
Now what does this have to do with the title of this blog, “Hyper Grace and the Judgment of God”? The Lord has been speaking to my heart lately about the need to ask Him for a deeper heart cleansing, as we are living in the time that we will all soon be meeting our Maker and we need to be able to come before Him with a clean heart and clean hands. Salvation is free and it does not cost us anything (but it cost Jesus everything). However, our heavenly rewards are based on the deeds we do while we are on the earth. These are the works of the spirit as they are things we do to obey, honor and please the Lord. However, many in the “hyper grace” camp have made our works and deeds of very little importance as they teach we can do anything and God’s grace has already covered it. While God’s grace is there and is available to cleanse us from all sin, the condition for receiving it is repentance and obedience.
“Hyper Grace” is a False Doctrine
I call this false doctrine, “extreme grace” or as others have tagged it, “hyper grace.” This doctrine teaches that no matter what a Christian does, God’s grace covers it and you are still in right standing with God because once you are saved, you are always saved. It is a doctrine that essentially eliminates the need of repentance and does away with man’s will. It teaches that you need not repent on a daily basis, because God forgives you on the basis of your initial repentance when you gave your heart to the Lord; and that one time repentance covers all your sins, past, present and future. Now “works of the flesh” will never save anyone, but works of the spirit (those deeds done at the direction of the Holy Spirit) is the evidence that we are saved by His true grace. Certainly what God did on the cross covers every person’s sins throughout every age as there is no lack in God’s grace; however, not every person will walk in that grace and some will even despise it. God does not remove our will when we are “born again.”
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).
What is true grace? God’s grace is His love manifested toward mankind. That grace is the fact that Jesus died for us while we were unworthy sinners and we did not have to do anything but repent and receive His love. It is an unconditional love. He loved us before we loved Him. Grace is His enabling power. It is the Holy Spirit who sought us out and offered the gift of salvation to us. We are not saved by going to a church, reciting a creed, doing good works, or going through any ritual. It is a heart change that happens to us when we surrender everything to God and it is a gift of God and it is by His grace that happens.
Now we are not saved by our works, but our rewards in heaven come to us in direct proportion to our obedience and works we do in this earth. Some will have greater rewards in heaven because they have been more obedient than others. We are judged of God according to the works that we have done in our earthly bodies. We will be rewarded for our good works and we will suffer loss because of evil works or works of our flesh.
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
“For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).
We are saved by grace, but we are rewarded according to our works in Christ. The false grace teachings make it easier to sin because we have no fear or respect of God. It denies man’s responsibility toward God. The Bible warns us in the New Testament that God will begin His judgment at the house of God. However, he also tells us that if we judge ourselves, we will not be condemned. How do we judge ourselves? It is the Word of God that judges us, so the more we line up with the Word of God, the less judgment we will experience. Where grace comes in is that the Holy Spirit gives us His grace (the enabling power of God) to be able to keep His Word. “Grace” and “works” are like the two wings of a bird that enable it to fly. It is God working in man, to change him, so that every day we become more like our Lord. We begin to act like Him and do the works of God if we yield to Him. Doing this demonstrates the true grace of God. We cannot keep sinning and think that God will wink at those sins and really believe we are saved. If we are His child, then, as a good Father, He will discipline us when we fail to repent and obey Him. We must admit our sins, repent of them and resist the devil and then we can continue to walk in His grace.
“If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world” (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).
My prayer is that we will all yield to God and allow Him to help us overcome the sin in our lives and this can only be done by His grace and love. Next blog we will look at how to overcome by identifying the many reasons or excuses that keep us from our promises of victory. Join me as we prepare for the coming of the Lord.
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